Chetan Pal Panesar, who ran E-tickets Worldwide Limited, in Handsworth, Birmingham, tricked 18 people out of £32,000 for flights he did not book.

Panesar was jailed yesterday (21 October) for 21 months at Birmingham Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent business carried on for a fraudulent purpose.

Jailing him, judge Kristina Montgomery QC, said he repeatedly lied to victims, BBC News reports.

Many customers paid Panesar, 48, from Handsworth, in cash instalments over a number of months.

Montgomery said: "These were the sort of people who would scrimp and save to visit relatives. Over a period of time you took from people. Money that went into your business and ultimately your pocket and they received nothing… it was for them a significant deprivation."

She said a number of factors had led to Panesar’s custodial sentence, including the way he lied about being a member of Abta and Atol and blamed airlines for tickets not arriving.